206 participating nations (National Olympic Committees), with over 11,000 athletes competing in 48 disciplines and Georgia proudly landing at 24th place in the Olympic Medal Table. Our 28 athletes had one of the best performances receiving a total of 7 medals, three of which are gold, three silver and one bronze.
Tato Grigalashvili. Photo Source: Newshub.ge
The first medal for the Georgian Olympic team at the 2024 Olympics was silver received by 24 years old Georgian judoka Tato Grigalashvili (81kg) who lost to the current Olympic champion, Japanese Takanori Nagase in the finals. Tato Grigalashvili is the first judoka in the history of Georgian sports who has won the world champion title three times in a row. Tato is a three-time European champion as well.
Lasha Bekauri. Photo Source: Interpressnews.ge
Judoka Lasha Bekauri (90kg) won the first gold medal for the Georgian Olympic team at Paris 2024. The 24-year-old athlete defeated Japanese Murao Sanshiro in the final. He is the first Georgian judoka who became a two-time Olympic champion.
Ilia Sulamanidze. Photo Source: Judoinside.com
Georgian judoka Ilia Sulamanidze (100kg) was just 8 seconds short of winning the gold medal. In the finals he lost to the current world champion, Zelim Kotsoev from Azerbaijan and accordingly took the silver medal. 23-year-old Ilia is a bronze medalist of the World Championship and two silver and one bronze medalists of the European Championships.
Lasha Guruli. Photo Source: Spnews.io
In the semi-finals, the Georgian boxer Lasha Guruli met the Cuban Erislandy Alvares Borges and was defeated by a unanimous decision of the judges, although he ended his performance at the Olympic Games with a bronze medal. Guruli is the first Georgian boxer to win a bronze medal at the Olympics since Sydney 2000.
Geno Petriashvili. Photo Source: Uww.org
And then there were two! Two Olympic Champions, two gold medals on the same day. 30-year-old freestyle wrestler Geno Petriashvili (125 kg) won a gold medal beating Iranian Amir Hossein Zare 10:9 in the breathtaking finals. Geno used Zare’s crown gesture while celebrating the gold medal, standing over his defeated, although smiling opponent. It should be noted that Geno improves his result every time, as he received a bronze medal at Rio 2016, silver at Tokyo 2021 and now it was time for the gold at Paris 2024. In addition, he is a three-time World and two-time European champion.
Lasha Talakhadze. Photo Source: Pen.people.cn
Lasha Talakhadze won his third consecutive Olympic gold medal at the Paris Games.
He became the first Georgian athlete who won the Olympic Games three times. The legendary weightlifter won a gold medal at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics as well.
Lasha lifted a combined total of 470 kilograms, competing in the men’s +102 kilograms category. It must be said that participation in this year’s Olympics was connected to some difficulties for him with the recent knee injury which resulted in him skipping almost every competition this year. Nevertheless, with his character and self-confidence, he recorded the best result and became a champion even without using his last try. That’s why the Paris 2024 gold medal was the sweetest in his career, as he said in an interview after coming back to Georgia.
Besides Olympic achievements, Lasha holds unbelievable records, including 225 kg in the snatch, 267 kg for clean and jerk, and 492 kg for total lift. He is a seven-time World and seven-time European Champion.
Givi Macharashvili. Photo Source: 1tv.ge
Our last medal at Paris 2024 was a silver received in the finals by freestyle wrestler Givi Macharashvili (97kg) who lost against Akhmed Tazhudinov competing on behalf of Bahrain.
It must be noted that Paris 2024 was the 10th Olympic Games participation for Georgian gold medalist Nino Salukvadze making her the only woman in the world with this achievement.
This concludes Georgian Athletes’ participation in Olympic Games till Los Angeles 2028 as the Olympic flame is being passed from Seine River to the Pacific Ocean and its sunny beaches.
